Don’t Worry, Diablo IV‘s Hardest Boss Probably Won’t Ruin Your Run

One of the first bosses I encountered in Diablo IV was the Butcher. I was doing reasonably well up until that point and thought “sure, I’ll just take this guy out real quick.” That didn’t work out for me, butI’m not alone—-The Butcher is as challenging as he is rare. And until now, there hasn’t been much indication of just how rare he is.

Diablo IV is all about chasing strength and power. in your way are hordes of demons and epic bosses. The Butcher is one such difficult boss and he’s known for spontaneously showing up in dungeons or basements as you’re going about your adventuring and heroics, eager to destroy you. Player characters must be well-built and well-equipped in order to take on the Butcher. With devastatingly strong attacks and the ability to hook and pull players into his attack range, he’s no fun to run into. And running away is also a challenge. The Butcher is quite fast and difficult to outrun on its own, let alone when you’re in a crowded space with other threats.

Diablo IV fans study Butcher spawn rate

There is the potential to get a great reward for standing up to this beast, though. Killing a Butcher gives you a chance to score The Butcher’s Cleaver, an excellent piece of unique gear. And while there’s been no official information on its spawn rate, one fan recently crunched the data of 1,270 basement runs to determine farming outcomes and enemy spawn frequencies.

Read More: Diablo IV: 14 Wild Loot Drops Fans Have Found

With over a thousand basement runs, Reddit user MrFrodoBeggins only came across the Butcher three times. That’s a .2% chance in this example alone. Most Diablo IV players would probably estimate a rate much higher than that (and this is only one piece of data anyway). That said, it’s still a testament to just how infrequent this boss may spawn.

MrFrodoBeggins’ data also revealed some useful information about loot drops and the farming potential of basements and the results aren’t too great. If you’re looking for an easy place to farm loot, dungeons are likely to be a better bet as basements don’t consistently offer up enough good loot. “I think that basements are the MAXIMUM useless type of activity that slows down: gaining experience, farming resources, farming legendary and unique items, and indeed any currency” he wrote, summing up his findings.

So the lesson learned here is: Maybe ignore basements, and still, watch the hell out for the Butcher.